Presidency

President Faure assents to nine Acts approved by NA | 27 December 2019

President Faure signing the Acts (Photo: Thomas Meriton)

President Danny Faure has assented to nine Acts that have recently been approved by the National Assembly during a ceremony held at State House early yesterday morning.

The Acts approved by the National Assembly were received on Monday December 23, 2019 and includes The Appropriation Act 2020, Supplementary Appropriation Act 2019, the Seychelles Pension Fund (Amendment) Act 2019, the International Trade Zone (Amendment) Act 2020, the Corporate Social Responsibility Tax (Amendment) Act 2019, the Tourism Marketing Tax (Amendment) Act 2019, the Alcoholic Drinks Control Act 2019, the Lighting of Fires (Restriction) Act 2019 and Truth, Reconciliation and National Unity Commissions (Amendment) Act 2019.

Present at State House for the signing were the Minister for Health, Jean-Paul Adam, Minister for Environment, Energy and Climate Change, Wallace Cosgrow; Attorney General Frank Ally, Secretary of State Cabinet Affairs Mohammed Afif, principal secretary for environment Alain De Commarmond, principal secretary for health Dr Bernard Valentin and the Commissioner General of the Seychelles Revenue Commission, Veronique Herminie.

The first was the Appropriation Act for 2020, which provides the budget for the running of government in 2020. Cabinet approved the Appropriation Bill on October 9, 2019 and it has been passed by the National Assembly, with amendments on December 6, 2019. The total sum approved by the National Assembly is R9,230,765,399.61.

The second Act is the Supplementary Appropriation Act 2019 which amounts to R976,107,975.61 and provides for additional budget amounts proposed by government in June 2018, October 2018 and December 2019.

Followed by the Truth, Reconciliation & National Unity (Amendment) Act 2019, which now specifies that the Truth, National Reconciliation & Unity Commission will now include only one non-Seychellois, and six other commissioners. Previously it required two non-Seychellois and five Seychellois commissioners. The Bill was approved by Cabinet on November 27, and by the National Assembly on December 11, 2019.

The Seychelles Pension Fund (Amendment) Act 2019 sets a limit on the amount of money that the Seychelles Pension Fund may use for investments, and the value of assets that the SPF may dispose of, without prior approval of the Minister responsible for Finance.

The Bill was approved by Cabinet on November 27, and approved, with amendments, by the National Assembly on December 11, 2019.

The Lighting of Fires Bill 2019 was approved by the Cabinet on October 16, 2019. This Act sets clear conditions under which open fires may be lit. It was approved by the National Assembly on December 11, 2019.

The Alcoholic Drinks Control Act 2019 was approved in principle by Cabinet on May 15, 2019. The Bill was aimed at limiting the hours of sale, and the conditions of sale, of alcohol to the public. There followed a series of consultations with stakeholders after which the Bill was gazetted on June 3, 2019. It was approved by the National Assembly on December 12, 2019.

The Corporate Social Responsibility Tax (Amendment) Act 2019 re-defines how the term is to be interpreted by businesses in the determination of CSR Tax. The Bill was approved by Cabinet in April, 2019, and by the National Assembly on December 17, 2019.

The Tourism Marketing Tax (Amendment) Act 2019, which also clarifies how business turnover will be determined in respect of travel agents and destination management companies. The Bill was also approved by Cabinet in April 2019, and by the National Assembly on December 18, 2019.

Lastly, the International Trade Zone (Amendment) Act 2019 amends the conditions of licence for SITZ companies. Cabinet approved the principles of this Act as far back as December 9, 2017, but this followed a series of consultations with stakeholders before final gazetting in December 2018. The Bill was approved by the National Assembly on December 18, 2019.